The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and more particularly to a transflective liquid crystal display device.
Liquid crystal display devices used on mobile devices such as cell phones employ a transflective liquid crystal display device because of its ability to cope with a wide ranging illumination environments. The transflective liquid crystal display device has a transmissive region and a reflective region in each of subpixels that form a display area of a liquid crystal display panel. The transmissive region realizes a transmissive display by controlling the amount of transmitted light from the backlight. The reflective region realizes a reflective display by controlling the amount of reflected light entering from outside. That is, the transflective liquid crystal display device can secure visibility of displayed images mainly by the transmissive display under dark environments and mainly by the reflective display under light environments and therefore can be used in a wide range of illumination environments.
One method of realizing such a transflective liquid crystal display device, or an in-cell polarizer technology, has been proposed which provides a polarizer in each liquid crystal cell in addition to a polarizer installed outside the liquid crystal cell substrate. JP-A-2006-184325 and JP-A-2006-171723 describe a construction of the liquid crystal display device incorporating a polarizer in each liquid crystal cell.
As the digital communication technology advances, an environment is emerging in which moving pictures can be viewed anywhere and anytime. Under these circumstances, demands are growing that users are able to view moving pictures without a stress in a liquid crystal display device mounted on mobile devices. This requires a high-speed response of the liquid crystals. In realizing the high-speed response of the liquid crystals, it is effective to reduce a thickness of the liquid crystal layer.